To add to the above, operations are doing OK to the Port of Miami, they are running a job down there at lest twice a day and maybe more. Miami and Port Everglades are still the closest ports in the US to the Panama Canal and I think they are going to do just fine, everything takes time.Noel Weaver

Taiwan’s government has approved a $1.9 billion relief package for the country’s loss-making container shipping companies to prevent a collapse similar to Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co.

People with direct knowledge of the matter said the package, announced late Tuesday, involves a credit line with preferential interest rates aimed mainly to help Evergreen Marine Corp. and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. , two of the world’s biggest container operators.

“The nation relies on shipping firms to transport goods that come in large quantities, which is key to our economic development,” said Wang Kwo-tsai, Taiwan’s deputy minister of transportation, adding that the fallout from Hanjin’s August bankruptcy caused chaos in global supply chains, with $14 billion worth of goods stranded at sea for months

There is no regulatory authority over ocean shipping, and the lines appear to be involved with ruinous cut throat price competition considering that a container can be shipped Asia to Europe for $700 and with a break even point of $1400. If that be the case, is there even enough $$$ to gas up the boat and pay the driver?

Unquestionably. All this has an effect upon the viability of the Neo-PANAMAX project, be such the Canal itself or the East Coast ports expanding to handle this new era of global commerce.

And finally let us not forget the supposed anti-trade position of the incoming Trump administration. All this could well be enough to "throw cold water" on a possible sale of the FEC.

A very brief but interesting conversation at the Bar with a retired FDNY Captain who now does fire safety consulting work for the PANYNJ. I noted to him my thought that "too many cranes Skyward" here and my earlier thought of same from what I could safely see of Port Elizabeth when driving by on the NJTPK last October.

He concurred.

As I have noted through this topic my concerns that the East Coast ports have thrown a "Neo-PANAMAX party" - and nobody came are coming to light. I have no idea if the Neo-PANAMAX tolls have been set too high, which would mean that Warren and Uncle Pete will "do OK". But with the maritime industry that evidently "over expanded" and are in a ruinous rate war that nobody will win (think Hanjin), the Canal authority may have no alternative than to follow suit.

It's worth noting that the amount of cranes recently bought by Norfolk and Savannah are some of the biggest orders ever seen in the crane business, with Baltimore and Charleston ordering a few as well. I believe Norfolk is in the lead with 86 yard cranes and 4 off-loaders.

For weekend after this. I booked, and paid extra, for a room at Marriott Biscayne Bay with a Port of Miami view. While the Love Tubs are predictable, it will be interesting to see if there is more cargo activity than I have observed Neo-PANAMAX.

They put about a $30/ni premium atop their "not exactly Motel 6 rates", and this year they blew it with me. I'm "Silver" in Marriott's reward plan and I have stayed in this hotel once every year since '11. Port of Miami view means a high floor in the 31 story structure - not the 8th floor.